This invention relates to pyridines, pyrimidines, purinones, pyrrolopyrimidinones and pyrrolopyridinones, processes for preparing them, pharmaceutical compositions containing them, and methods of using them to treat certain central nervous system (CNS) and other disorders.
CRF antagonists are mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,642, issued Aug. 12, 1986, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,245, issued Nov. 5, 1991, referring to peptides and pyrazolinones, respectively. CRF antagonists are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,479, issued Oct. 5, 1999. The importance of CRF antagonists is set out in the literature, e.g., as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,245, which is incorporated herein by reference. A recent outline of the different activities possessed by CRF antagonists is found in M. J. Owens et al., Pharm. Rev., Vol. 43, pages 425 to 473 (1991), also incorporated herein by reference. Based on the research described in these two and other references, CRF antagonists are effective in the treatment of a wide range of stress-related illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, headache, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory diseases, immune suppression, Alzheimer's disease, gastrointestinal diseases, anorexia nervosa, hemorrhagic stress, drug and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, drug addiction, infertility, head trauma, stroke, and stress-induced infections in humans and animals. The use of CRF antagonists for treatment of Syndrome X has also been described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/162,340, filed Oct. 29, 1999, which is also incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. Methods for using CRF antagonists to treat congestive heart failure are described in U.S. Ser. No. 09/248,073, filed Feb. 10, 1999, which is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.